Trials, Tribulations and Textbooks

Chapter 1

Un nuovo inizio / A new beggining.

Feliciano gazed out of the car window absent mindedly, hands folded in his lap. His chocolate coloured eyes took in the new surroundings as he was driven down the winding country road. Their car turned a corner onto an excessively large drive way leading up to the main entrance of the prestigious World Academy W. Trees dotted the edge of the carefully manicured terrain and two huge iron gates could be seen looming up ahead, the signs of reaching his destination. As they drew closer, the gates opened, allowing them to pass beyond the secure walls surrounding the grounds of the academy.

The World Academy had an impressive history, for over a hundred years being the gateway of leading education to some of the worlds wealthiest and most privileged. This school had seen many a politician, royal and multi-billionaire pass through the halls and classrooms, setting an example for each generation. The academy itself sported an impressive amount of land, which included the enormous main building, with the sports field next to it, housing the classrooms such as an award winning music and arts department, state of the art science laboratory, the expansive library and also the student cafeteria. Behind the main building the gardens were situated, the centrepiece being a beautifully sculpted monument to the academy's founder depicting him kneeling with the world on his shoulders. Just beyond the gardens lay the academy's unique student accommodations, set out as a quaint, miniature English village. The academy's aim for this unusual set up, was to help prepare the students, to teach them responsibility whilst treating them as adults with their own space. It was already common knowledge that the students were self sufficient from their upbringings, that they were trusted to house-share at the academy from the age of twelve.

A deep sigh caught Feliciano's attention. He glanced over to see the dark aura, surrounding his brother, Lovino. A deep set scowl was fixed upon his face, and the younger Italian could hear the music blaring from the headphones in his ears. He gave his brother a sad smile.

He knew Lovino wasn't happy about them coming here, but it was their parents wishes. Things had become worse back home in Italy. Their father was a top government official, key in a new initiative to stopping the Italian Mafia, which had since begun to get way out of hand. This in turn had made the Vargas family the top target on Camorra's and other criminal gangs' list and to ensure the brothers' safety they sent them abroad to World Academy for their studies.

Lovino glared back in response, as their driver announced their arrival.

"We're here, Signore." He said as he opened the door for Feliciano, "I'll take your bags to your accommodation before I leave."

Feliciano climbed out of the opened door and reached to shake the driver's hand, "Grazie for everything, Mister Russo!" He gave him a warm smile, resisting the urge to hug him. His mother had on many occasions scolded him about his over friendly attitude to strangers and had constantly reminded him about showing decorum. At the present moment he was trying really hard to take those words on board, even if it was against his genuinely cheerful nature.

Mr Russo returned the smile and gave him a formal bow, before walking around to the other side of the car to open the door for Lovino, "It's my pleasure, Signore, but where's your brother?" He asked in a rather confused tone.

The hyper Italian quickly looked inside the car and then around him, before noticing Lovino halfway towards the building, heading for the reception. He gave a nervous laugh and ran after him, "Fratello, wait!"

Lovino was already at the desk by the time Feliciano reached him, demanding attention from the receptionist, whist she poignantly ignored him.

"Hey rospo-donna! Fate attenzione a me accidenti a te!" He yelled whilst slamming his fist on the desk angrily, causing several pots of pens to topple over. She however just glared, equally as annoyed, back up at him.

Feliciano at that point hurried over to his brother's side, apoligising profusely for his brother's bad words, "Fratello, that's not very nice! Did you even think of using English? We are in England now!"

"I did, but this stupido woman still ignored me!" He huffed, folding his arms moodily.

Feliciano glared at his brother before turning towards the receptionist, "I am so sorry, ma'am, for Lovino's words towards you. He just gets like this sometimes and he's very hot headed!"

The receptionist just looked coldly up at Lovino, replying in just as fluent Italian, "Marmocchio pomposa, I understood what you said very well. To do my job I have to be bilingual, as you must forget, we are an academy full of students from many countries some whom don't even speak fluent English."

Just as Lovino, whom was at that present time huffing and puffing at her insult, was about to retaliate, the headmistress' head popped out of her office just down the corridor and she smiled politely as she recognised the brothers from their school pictures on the paperwork. She trotted towards them across the marble flooring on her smart, black high heels and offered a hand to Lovino.

"Ah! The Vargas brothers, am I right?" She asked, the professionalism of her job coming out in the smile she gave off, "Welcome to our Academy, Lovino, Feliciano." She said, nodding to each boy respectively, "I trust you travelled well?"

The youngest of the two grinned back, letting his friendly nature get the better of him finally, and replied with an enthusiastic, "Yes, ma'am!"

However, the only thing that came from Lovino's mouth was a half hearted grunt, probably the only reply he would give that day.

The tall, curly blonde haired headteacher laughed politely, "You are most likely tired, I see. Well, I am Amelia Cavendish, your new headteacher, I run this Academy. You may call me Ms Cavendish, I expect yourselves to have the politest manners around me and every other member of staff and to behave with the utmost decorum on school grounds. Now, if you will follow me, I'll show you my office so we can go over some things."

She ushered the boys down the corridor into her spacious office and gestured to the seats in front of the mahogany desk. Taking a seat on the other side, she flashed another well practised, newspaper worthy smile, "Well, boys. After reading through your papers, I see you come from a rather privileged and prestigious background."

Feliciano nodded, Lovino had no reaction, or rather he was more distracted by whatever trinkets appeared to be on Ms Cavendish's desk. It would be fair to say he just wasn't interested in boring school things being the fifteen year old teenager he was.

"And your father is a politician? We have many students whose parents are of the same profession, maybe it will help you get involved and make some new friends."

The older brother grunted again, causing Ms Cavendish to glare, "Care to explain why you interrupt me, Mr Vargas?"

Feliciano came to Lovino's aid at that point, rescuing him from yet another run in with another member of staff, in less than 10 minutes of being in the building. "I'm sorry, Ms Cavendish. Fratello isn't really a people person, he never got the chance to mix with others as a child -"

Before he was able to finish that sentence, a punch on the arm was earned from the brunette next to him, "Ow! Fratello, that hurt! Now i'm going to have a bruise and -" he rambled, his face forming into that of a child.

Ms Cavendish chuckled almost silently at the brother's 'sibling fight' moment, "Come on now boys. Don't get into trouble before the year has even begun. Why don't I show you the area and your accommodation? I can assure you it is a very nice set of buildings."

"Okay!" Came an enthusiastic cheer from a certain hyper Italian teenager. Ms Cavendish allowed herself a small smile of amusement. She found it slightly refreshing having such a happy presence, as a contrast to the rather formal behaviour other students usually presented to her. Shifting her gaze briefly to the older brother, she couldn't help but notice the contrast in their personalities. She had a feeling she would have more problems with the grumpy teen, but for now, put it down to tiredness and hormones.

They walked through the main building (with mixed emotions) whilst Ms Cavendish chatted on about the precision of the uniform and how beautiful their grounds are when you take the time to appreciate them. Lovino and Feliciano listened intently to the descriptions their teacher was giving them, and when she pointed out how everyone got along and were overly friendly, Feliciano got really interested.

"I think we are just about to see some of our most prestigious students, this is normally where they spend their time before school."

As they turned the corner they discovered a rather heated shouting match between an enraged Englishman and a shrieking American. The two blonds were spitting various profanities at eachother across the hallway and a lot of threatening was going on.

"You watch it, you obnoxious, lazy American!" The shorter screamed out.

"Or what? You'll cast a magic spell through the powers of Shakespeare at me?! His writing was stupid and I didn't understand it! Why didn't you write it in American?!" The darker blond shouted back, looking as if he was restraining himself from bashing the other in the face.

"Why you- How dare you say such things about our beloved English literature! I could say the same thing about that series revolving around vampires! What was it again, Twibright?"

"Ha! No it was Twilight, actually!"

Before the shouting could continue, Ms Cavendish stepped in with a short barked, "Arthur Kirkland and Alfred F. Jones! Go and wait outside my office, I will speak with you later!"

The two turned around sharply and scampered away, they could be compared to dogs running with their tails between their legs. The crowd surrounding them dissolved, leaving only Feliciano, Lovino and Ms Cavendish in the empty hallway.

"I'm so sorry boys, this doesn't happen very often, I can assure you. Now, lets forget that happened and start fresh, shall we?"

They continued strolling through the halls, Ms Cavendish occasionally pointing out something of interest, but mainly staying silent. Eventually they reached the student village and they came to a stop in front of a small stone house in the center. It had a tiny garden no bigger than about six foot with patches of well maintained grass either side of a grey gravel path. A white picket fence surrounding the edge depicted the border of their garden with the next. The path led up to a front door made of oak, with a knocker in the shape of a globe. On the left hand side of the door was a plaque with the number 42 engraved into it. Surrounding them were other houses, exactly the same. It was almost as if they had been copy and pasted over and over again, to create exact replicas.

"This will be your house for the next four years. You may use it as you wish, within the rules provided in the packs you have been given. As an example, alcohol, house partys and definately drugs are prohibited from being on the school grounds. The opposite genders are not allowed to stay in the same house overnight, with the exception of relatives. You will find a full list posted on the fridge and the student bulletin boards around the site."

Both boys tuned out to Ms Cavendish droning on with a revised edition of the house rules and snapped back to present when she mentioned they were free to go inside, "You will find your key under the mat. If you have any problems, don't hesitate to walk up to the reception and ask Miss Anthea."

They thanked eachother for their time and the brothers headed inside their house. The first thing they saw was the violet fluffy carpeted hallway and the bare cream coloured walls, cleaned and waiting to be inhabited by the messy teenagers. A marble topped table sat to one side of the hall and a card sat atop it with some flowers in a vase.

Feliciano flicked the card open and waved at Lovino.

"Fratello, there's a message for us!

'Dear new students,

The senior members of staff at W.A.W. thank you for choosing our school to attend. We hope you get a great start to life here, so to ensure it's succesful, we have supplied you with the basic things you will need.

In the kitchen you will find enough food for a week, after you will be encouraged to either aquire food from the canteen or groceries can be purchaced in the Academy shop. We hold weekly trips into the nearby town, which if you want to participate, be sure to collect your pass from the reception. There is also a limited supply of washing powder, soaps and detergents in the laundry room -'"

"What the actual hell?! Do they think we're children or something? I can handle myself, thanks!" Lovino cried out, suddenly enraged at the fact the school thought they couldn't cope with independance.

"Fratello, calm down! It was simply meant to be a gesture of kindness! At least we can write home and say we're being looked after well enough." Feliciano fretted, trying to grasp a sense of reason with his brother, something one cannot simply acheive easily.

"Yeah, yeah. Carry on reading, idiot..."

"Okay!

'In your bedrooms there are school uniform sets hanging in the wardrobes for each person, consisting of our purple chequered trousers, light brown jumpers, white shirts and a different coloured tie depending on your year. Also supplied are our brown school shoes. You are required to wear this whilst attending classes and clubs, unless specifically specified.'

"I hope they got our sizes right, Fratello!"

Lovino, however, had once again wandered off into the living room to check out the area. It took quite a deal of searching the downstairs area before Feliciano found him.

"Geez, no TV? These idiota sure are stingy!" To no surprise of Feliciano's, Lovino was grumbling about whatever nonsensical thing he could once again, "And a bookshelf, but no books? Those marmocchio pomposas really don't go to any lengths considering our boredom, do they?"

The younger Italian grabbed his brother's shoulders and shook him gently, "But, Lovi, they have to accomodate over two thousand students! They can only provide so much for a household. Plus, we have enough books in our luggage to fill up more than just these shelves!"

"That's not the point..."

Soon after the incident in the living room, Lovino went upstairs to 'claim a bedroom and unpack', though Feliciano suspected he really only wanted to sulk about not being in his own room at home, nose in a book and in his own world.

Feliciano was just about ready to collect his own luggage from the foot of the stairs and head up to his own room when a knock could be heard at the front door. Inquisitive to see who it was, surely they hasn't actually met anyone else yet from what he could remember, he went to answer it.

No sooner than the door had been opened, he let out a slight squeak. Standing at the door was a very tall blond haired, blue eyed man.

"Um, hello, Signore? What can I do for you?" He whispered, feeling rather intimidated by this other student's presence. By the colour of his tie, he could assume he was in the same year as Feliciano, but surely they wern't around the same age!

That looming person simply let out a rather gruff, "Um, hello..." In a really thick German accent, extending a hand towards Felliciano.

AN/ We hope you enjoyed the first chapter, there are many more to come! This fic is rated T for now, but it's most likely subject to change (Depending on whether Dead gets to take charge of writing any time soon :P).

There are two of us writing this, I am Blue and my sister is Dead, hence our account name! :D

Reviews appreciated and welcome!

Translations:

Italian

Camorra: A Mafia based in South Italy.
Signore: Sir.
Grazie: Thank you.
Fratello: Brother.
"Hey rospo-donna! Fate attenzione a me accidenti a te!": "Hey, frog-woman! Pay attention to me, damn you!"
Stupido: Stupid.
Marmocchio pomposa(s): Pompus brat(s).
Idiota: Idiot.